Travel

07/12/2010

Scroll down and you'll see how I have been focusing on Lonely Planet and DIVER magazine as one of the routes to getting published. Lonely Planet actively encourage readers to send in their photographs for the 'Postcards' section and submit stories about their past travels. They also invite readers to put in a pitch as to why they should receive up to 150 pounds to stay at a hotel and then review it for a one page spread in their pages. DIVER magazine has a back page slot for readers (Deep Breath) to write about issues within the diving world and knowing the editor well, I am aware he is constantly on the look out for copy for this column.

Some excerpts from Karli's latest 'keep me updated' e-mails:

"Trying to work out how to 'inspire' the editorial team of LP to get a free night's stay at a hotel. All a bit random really... "err, I like the look of this hotel and it's in budget..?".

For the Deep Breath column I was thinking I'm at the right point to do it now - I didn't let the dry suit disaster put me off [see Karli's blog] and have a rather cheesy successful end to the story (as well as still learning of course).

You'll be pleased to hear I'm making progress and have now submitted an entry for the hotel review in LP magazine and also the Postcards section. It's been a busy writing weekend and glad I'm ticking a few things off my list! Now let's see if either of us can get a free night in a hotel... [I've also put in a pitch, they pay for a night in a pleasant hotel - I'd be a fool not to!]

I got a reply within a day from an Editorial Assistant at Lonely Planet because I think my Postcards picture amused them! But no promises as to getting published yet... Got everything crossed that I'll score on first attempt.

Next stop is getting my column entry for Diver written."

My only concern - what if Karli's bid for cash for a hotel stay trumps mine? Will that mean the quality of my coaching is better than my writing?

05/25/2010

Lonely Planet has quite a few opportunities to get published, the quickest and easiest being The Thorn Tree, Lonely Planet's everything travel web site. It's where you can: find answers to travel questions on just about anywhere in the world; shamelessly plug your own travel blog or photography or ask the most bizarre questions about life's random subjects. Unsurprisingly, the latter category appears to get the most hits and replies, some people in 'forum land' have too much time on thier hands!

For the aspiring photojournalist, the 'Don't Forget to Write' branch is the part of the Thorn Tree where you can seek feedback on your writing or plug your travel blog. This is what it has to say about itself:

This is the branch to share your trip reports and tell your travel tales. You can post short stories (up to 2,500 words), trip reports, or even travel related poetry, if you are so inclined.

You can also use this branch to tell us about your fabulous travel blog, to recommend other great blogs about world travel, or to talk about your favourite travel writing (shameless plug: have you seen the new Lonely Planet Magazine?).

Please note, as with any Thorn Tree content, you consent to our using your contributions from time to time in our publications or elsewhere on the Lonely Planet website, however, you as the author will keep copyright and can reuse your contributions.

We look forward to reading all about your travels and hearing about your blogs!

This was the entry I left on The Thorn Tree:

Karli's Story

Would be interested in any thoughts / opinions on 'Karli's Story' - an account of Karli's journey to become a photojournalist specialising in adventure travel.

I included a snippet from a previous post to try and hook people in and it worked. So far over 130 people have read the post and about 15 of them have visited my site using the link. You're competing for busy people's valuable time, so while this might not seem much, from one post, it's not a bad hit rate.

If you have a blog one of the issues you will be presented with is getting people to read it and if it's about a popular subject you'll be competing with thousands of other blogs and websites so this may prove difficult. The other problem you will have is how to market it, well, sites like the Thorn Tree will provide you with that opportunity.

This is Karli's reply to my entry in the comments box:

Aha! I have followed your sneaky breadcrumb trail Brendan. You see, Brendan has been setting me tasks to develop my skills until I manage to get a byline in adventure/travel publications. He's one taskmaster - I'm waiting to be told to bring him a golden fleece.

Seriously though, I appreciate his input and support and would love to hear from anyone else who has tips on breaking into this industry. You can read the journey so far on Brendan's site, as posted above, and you can also check out what I'm up to on my blog:-

Getting people to read your site isn't as simple as creating it, writing stuff on it, and then hoping people will drop by. Contributing to sites like the Thorn Tree and forums is the way to go. Next time your on a forum note how many users have links to their sites in their signatures - by contributing and becoming an active member of an online community you are likely to build up a following. That is, as long as what you write is worth reading!

If it is you might get another site to refer its readers to you as in the next sentence.

05/22/2008

On my seminars and workshops I go into the different paths you can follow to get your photographs and words published.

One route I found very useful in my early days was in the diving travel sector. I'm sure this advice will horrify 100's of underwater photographers out there, but I used to provide my photographs for free to diving travel companies to illustrate their brochures. Eventually I built up a relationship with one called Harlequin, to the point where they would provide flights and all the ground arrangements for my assignments, and I would get an article on the destination published in DIVER. Harlequin would be included in the fact-file and I would provide them with more photographs for their brochure - it's a horrible cliche, but it was a 'win-win' arrangement.

I can think of several trips that would not have happened if I had not initially provided my photographs for free. So the question is - did I really provide them for free?

So, if I were starting off, on my return from a diving holiday I would call the company I used to arrange the trip and offer them photographs and a short write up for their site or brochure. It's a foundation, and you never know where it will lead to.

Here's an example of something I did recently for Dive Worldwide. They sponsored an assignment to Utila and Roatan, and as I wasn't overly complimentary about the diving in the resulting article, I offered to help them by writing something about another destination for their website. As I particularly love the island of Saba, and they were trying to promote it, I put together a short piece on this location. Note how it isn't written in a particularly publishable (for a magazine - unless it's a U.S. one!) style - it's in what is often referred to as advertorial. Not a problem here as this is what their site is. As an aside, it's all true, even if it were for an advertorial piece, I wouldn't tell any lies about a location in my writing.

As a regular contributor to DIVER magazine I'm often asked this question. The answer? Well, it all depends on what you're looking for. If your search is for a remote island in the Caribbean, with stunning pinnacles, plenty of marine life and bags of character, then you'll be looking for the island of Saba.

"Isn't that in Malaysia somewhere?"

No it isn't, that's Sabah - for reasons I cannot fathom, Saba still remains relatively unheard of. Bizarre as it offers some of the best dive sites in this region and one of my top five dive sites, 'The Pinnacle'. Rising at an angle from 60 metres to its peak at 30; this tower of coral and barrel sponges is only a few metres in diameter. As you spiral round the summit, take a look below, there's almost certainly going to be a shark patrolling the base.

Saba's signature dives are its pinnacles and seamounts - peaking at about 28 to 30 metres they always provide something of interest, shoals of jacks, collections of brightly coloured sponges, frogfish, sharks, turtles. And then there are the drop offs - stunning.

On dry land, the red roofs of the gingerbread style cottages and the people who occupy them take you back to the Caribbean of yesteryear. It's an overused cliche, but the people of this island really are the friendliest I have ever met (try standing on one of the roads for more than 5 minutes without being offered a lift). They also care passionately about their environment, the marine park is well run and where else would you find workers who built one of their roads around a tree, they just couldn't bear the idea of chopping it down.

And for the non-diver, or a diving day off, there is Mount Scenery. Like the underwater pinnacles around it, this island's peak is veiled in year round mist, its rainforest making for a challenging day of exploration.

So, back to the question, where is the best place in the world to dive? If it's the Caribbean you're thinking of, Saba, with its handful of quirky hotels, restaurants, rain forests, remote villages and of course, great diving, is your destination.

05/01/2008

In a previous post I've described how a five day dive trip to Bermuda set me back about £10.

Welcome to the world of familiarisation (often referred to as 'fam') / press trips, where a location's tourism board pays for everything in the hope it will result in an article or feature about the destination. When I say pay, it might not cost them that much. Depending on the airline they may have a set allocation of seats for press and PR purposes, hotels are normally keen to put you up and dive centres, when they hear you are from a diving magazine, will want to show off their facilities.

Generally 'fam' trips are escorted to the extent that every minute of your time is planned out. You'll be exposed to numerous hotels, dive centres, restaurants and bars - I've even been on trips where breakfasts outside of the hotel have been timetabled in.

I've not been on a 'fam' trip where there have been more than eight journalists and fortunately on each occasion they've been a fun lot to be around. However, although these trips have been quite enjoyable, they're still a form of work. You're there to do a job, to get the story and write it up to meet the editor's needs.

The question is - once you have been on one of these trips, to what extent are you beheld to the sponsors? Especially if they are an advertiser with the magazine?

In respect of this question I've posted an ethical dilemma on wetpixel's forum - you can follow it here.

The dilemma posed is in respect of whether you should write glowing reports about a destination just because they are sponsoring the trip, or are big advertisers with the magazine, or both.

I believe the article that came out of the 'fam' trip to Bermuda will demonstrate both my stance and that of DIVER magazine, however, I wouldn't try and pull this kind of stunt without first agreeing it with the editor. I seem to remember how Bermuda Tourism stopped advertising in DIVER a couple of months following publication - coincidence I'm quite sure.

04/26/2008

I've been asked the following question by one of the subscribers to the site:

Do you think photojournalists should mention in their article wheher they paid for their trip or got it for free? By doing so, the reader has a better way of assessing the "objectivity" of the author.

Good question.

I'll leave this one open for comments, and in a day or two, I'll post an update on what really happens out there.

To give you an idea from my experience:

Five days in Bermuda, total expenses - about £10 (cocktails).

Five days in Mauritius, total expenses - £19 (bar bill and a taxi fare)

One week in the Maldives, total expenses - £35 (nothing but beer)

One week in Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac, total expenses - £0

Two weeks in Sri Lanka, total expenses - about £25

Two weeks in Canada, get back in pocket by about £200, and that's before any article has been written up.

Just under three weeks in Australia, business class with Singapore Airlines, lots of diving and great hotels, total expenses - about £30. Oh yes, and for this trip there was no article, I didn't write up a single line.

04/21/2008

Earlier today I was chatting to a journalist from the world of newspapers who has just returned from a Press Trip (sometimes known as a "Fam" trip - short for familiarisation) to Malta.

Her time was co-ordinated in such a way that every moment was guided by what the PR team behind the visit wanted her to experience.

This isn't unusual, most PR agencies use "number of journalists exposed to the destination," as a performance indicator, which may be followed by, "number of articles written following the visit."

Which isn't very sophisticated, PR agencies often don't evaluate the content of the article, which is why the trip might be rushed as you are exposed to what might seem like everything the destination has to offer. I like to call it the scattergun approach.

And as soon as the dive centres hear you are in the area, they will all want you to dive with them. I've seen arguments break out over who will dive with who!

Press trips can be a lot of fun, but that isn't why you are there. Your job is to get the best material available to produce copy and photographs that will satisfy the editor, and sometimes this won't be what the PR agency is looking for. Read on for what was a mischievous poke at the PR and marketing world.

So far my research has revealed over 30 magazines, either paper based, on-line or both, that accept contributions from freelancers. So, the purpose of this post category is to share this knowledge with you.

Starting with the British Sub Aqua Club's trip reports where you will actually get paid! OK, it's a £15 voucher towards buying something from the BSAC shop, but it's a start.

Although it asks for a lot, and most of it is fairly factual, here is an opportunity for you to practice your art. Remember my adage, "Keep writing until you don't suck at it and someone is willing to pay you?" Well, this is a great way to get by-lined, and get paid.

The CG mentions the use of humour, I would steer clear of trying unless you really are the next Bill Bryson. Most attempts at humour fail - unless you are an established writer I believe most editors will not welcome you for it as it will need removing.

And here's an insider snippet - there is at least one editor who looks to this site as a training ground for new talent. This editor sees the site as a way you, as a budding photojournalist, would be willing to join a community of contributors. After all, if you become established with a magazine, this is what you will be.